‹‹‹ Vitr. 7.10.1 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 7.10.3 ›››
2An apartment is built similar to a laconicum, plastered with marble stucco, and polished. In front of it is built a furnace, which communicates with the laconicum; the mouth of this is to be very carefully closed, for the purpose of preventing the escape of the flame. Resin is then placed in the furnace, whose smoke, when the material is set on fire, passes by means of communications into the laconicum, and therein adheres to the walls and the arched ceiling. It is then collected, and some part of it is tempered with gum, to make ink for transcribers; the remainder is used by stuccoers in colouring walls, being previously mixed with size.
2A place is built like a Laconicum, and nicely finished in marble, smoothly polished. In front of it, a small furnace is constructed with vents into the Laconicum, and with a stokehole that can be very carefully closed to prevent the flames from escaping and being wasted. Resin is placed in the furnace. The force of the fire in burning it compels it to give out soot into the Laconicum through the vents, and the soot sticks to the walls and the curved vaulting. It is gathered from them, and some of it is mixed and worked with gum for use as writing ink, while the rest is mixed with size, and used on walls by fresco painters.